Ingredients: serves 8 or 10

Method: Wash and pick over the beans and put in a sauce pan with water to cover and simmer for 45 minutes. In a skillet, put the salt pork, onions and garlic over low-medium heat until the onions are wilted. Combine remaining ingredients except rice and add to beans, adding water if necessary to just barely cover the beans and simmer, covered for another hour or so. Stir occasionally. Cook rice separately, spoon onto a sizeable platter and surround with beans. Serve hot with ham and greens. A few variations that could be done with either method: add 2 teaspoons sugar to the water (Florida); add a cup of stewed tomatoes to the pot (Tennessee); use some bacon as part of the pork requirement (Kentucky). And above all remember this one salient fact. There's no other food I can think of that is supposed to bring luck. I wonder if the more you eat, the luckier you get?